by Ruthie Knox
So I wrote this romance novel, and I named the hero “Neville.”
And not only that — I named him “Neville Chamberlain,” which, if you happen to be acquainted with twentieth-century European history, you’ll know is the name of a frequently reviled British prime minister who’s best known for caving to Hitler, selling out Poland, and single-handedly making “appeasement” into a bad word.
I know. What was I thinking, right? Romance heroes are supposed to be named “Dane” and “Damon” and “Dominick.” They’re supposed to be named “Mason” and “Cane” and “Logan” and “Stavros” and “Quinn.” They’re not supposed to be named Neville.
My heroine, Cath, is well aware of this fact. Here’s a snippet from the novel in question — titled About Last Night (funny! smart! sexy! only $2.99! on sale now!). The hero and heroine are mid- … ahem. Let’s just say I’m dropping you into the middle of a good part, okay?
She couldn’t make sense of what she felt. This was sex. Hot sex with an almost-stranger. Except when she met his eyes, it wasn’t. It was the two of them. It was bigger.
“What’s your name?” she asked. The question came out a breathless whisper.
He laughed. “Nev.”
It was a nice name, unusual. A nickname, she supposed. A nickname for—
She sat up suddenly, bracing her elbows on the bed. “Short for Neville?”
The dimple appeared. “Only my mother calls me that.”
Dismayed, she dropped back onto the mattress and covered her eyes with the back of her hand. It was the world’s dorkiest name. Nearly as bad as Rupert. No, maybe a little worse than Rupert. Neville. For goodness’ sake. “I never thought I’d be penetrated by a Neville,” she said wonderingly. “Maybe a Colin, or a Simon, but—”
“Shut up.” He drew her other knee up and ground into her with a groan.
She’d have said something more, something witty, but she got distracted by the full-body shudder that racked her when City got serious about making her pay for teasing him, and by the sudden knowledge that she might not actually be a one-orgasm gal after all. Maybe it had just been a matter of finding the right guy.
Holy hell. That felt— Wow. “Okay.”
This Neville of mine — he’s all about changing Cath’s mind about him. It pretty much becomes his life’s work. And his name suits him. He’s English, upper-class, buttoned-up. (At least, when he’s dressed. Naked Nev is another matter.) His father is a history buff, his family rich as Croesus, and in that context, his name makes perfect sense.
But is that why I chose it? Heck, no!
Here’s the real story: I named my hero Neville because once, many years ago, I read Elizabeth Jane Howard’s Marking Time series, which follows the fates of the many members of the Cazalet family over several generations and a world war. (These are fabulous books. Read them.) In the first volume of the series, we meet an irritating, puling, charismatic boy named Neville, and he’s awful. But if you keep reading, you get to watch him grow up, and he kind of grows on you. By the end of volume four, I found myself thinking that Neville was such a nice name, I might just use it for one of my children one day. So I did. Book-children count, right?
That’s the story of my Neville. I hope you don’t like his name, but you read the book anyway. And I also hope that by the time you get to the end, you can’t imagine any better name for a hero. 🙂
About Last Night, coming from Loveswept (Random House), June 11, 2012!
Sure, opposites attract, but in this sexy, smart eBook original romance from Ruthie Knox, they positively combust! When a buttoned-up banker falls for a bad girl, “about last night” is just the beginning.
Cath Talarico knows a mistake when she makes it, and God knows she’s made her share. So many, in fact, that this Chicago girl knows London is her last, best shot at starting over. But bad habits are hard to break, and soon Cath finds herself back where she has vowed never to go . . . in the bed of a man who is all kinds of wrong: too rich, too classy, too uptight for a free-spirited troublemaker like her.
Nev Chamberlain feels trapped and miserable in his family’s banking empire. But beneath his pinstripes is an artist and bohemian struggling to break free and lose control. Mary Catherine — even her name turns him on — with her tattoos, her secrets, and her gamine, sex-starved body, unleashes all kinds of fantasies.
When blue blood mixes with bad blood, can a couple that is definitely wrong for each other ever be perfectly right? And with a little luck and a lot of love, can they make last night last a lifetime?
Order links — only $2.99, releases June 11
Amazon ~ Barnes and Noble ~ iBooks
One lucky commenter will be randomly chosen to win a digital preview copy of About Last Night. Winners will pick up their copy through NetGalley. Good luck to all!
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Ruthie Knox figured out how to walk and read at the same time in the second grade, and she hasn’t looked up since. She spent her formative years hiding romance novels in her bedroom closet to avoid the merciless teasing of her brothers and imagining scenarios in which someone who looked remarkably like Daniel Day Lewis recognized her well-hidden sex appeal and rescued her from middle-class Midwestern obscurity. After graduating from Grinnell College with an English and history double major, she earned a Ph.D. in modern British history that she’s put to remarkably little use.
These days, she writes contemporary romance in which witty, down-to- earth characters find each other irresistible in their pajamas, though she freely admits this has yet to happen to her. Perhaps she needs more exciting pajamas. Her debut novel, Ride with Me, came out with Loveswept (Random House) in February.
I loved this novel. Having read Knox’s debut novel “Ride With Me” I was excited to read “About Last Night” and Knox knocked it out the park. Neville may have the odd name, but Catherine is one impressive heroine.
Thanks, Sallie! So glad you enjoyed it!
When someone becomes important in our lives, their name (however odd it may first seem to be) experiences an accompanying rise in estimation. Cheers to Nev for bringing enligtenment to Cath! Thanks for the excerpt, Ruthie.
So true! I dated a “Peter” once, and it was nearly enough to get me over my innate distaste for the name. Nearly.
I really want this book. I sure hope I win it, but if not I will be buying it. Thanks for the giveaway!
Hope you enjoy it, Mary!
Congratulations on the new book. I think we should worry if a reader doesn’t know the significance of the name. 🙂
It’s all good. He’s mostly called “Nev,” and the rest gets explained in the book. 🙂
Myself I tend to like the odd and unique names. * Laughs * Though there are certain names that no matter what just does not scream sexy to me.
Agreed. The tricky thing is, those names are different for everyone! One woman’s “Nev” is another woman’s “Bruno.” Or something.
Whenever I hear ‘Neville,’ I think Harry Potter. And look how he turned out!
HOT!
Hi Ruthie,
Welcome to the blog! Love your books. Can you tell me what you’re working on next? Dying to know and hoping for an excerpt.
Thanks, Beverley!
I’ve got a bunch of things in the hopper, including (1) a two-book single-title series coming out with Loveswept next year, titled Along Came Trouble and Flirting with Disaster and (2) a Christmas novella loosely based on It’s a Wonderful Life. Right this very day, I’ve been revising Flirting with Disaster in the hope of getting it turned in to my editor in a few weeks. Here’s an unfinished, unedited excerpt from the first chapter, just ’cause you asked nice. Don’t tell anybody I’m showing you this.
The good thing about talking to her brother over speakerphone was that Caleb couldn’t see her rolling her eyes.
“Yes,” Katie said, gripping the steering wheel harder. “Uh-huh, yes, I get it.” She glanced in the rearview mirror, signaled left, and changed lanes. The traffic was getting thicker as they approached Louisville.
Caleb kept on talking. “If you have the slightest indication that there’s danger attached to this threat, you’re going to call me, and—”
“Yesssssss,” she droned, dragging the word out for dramatic effect.
The effect was wasted on Caleb, who was going to give her this lecture for the seventeenth time whether she wanted to hear it or not. It was wasted on Katie’s passenger, too. Sean didn’t react to anything she did. Ever.
But Katie glanced at the man in the passenger seat of her Jetta anyway, just to be sure. Sean stared straight out the windshield at the Interstate.
“—Sean to be in charge of anything along those lines. This is a trial run for you, Katie. I’m only letting you go because Judah insisted you were the one he wanted to work with. It’s Sean’s show. I want you to play nice and stay out of his way. You got that?”
“Yes,” she said. “How many different ways do you want me to say yes? I know the deal. I agreed to the deal. I am on board with the deal. Now can we stop talking about it, please?”
She flinched at the way her voice came out, sharper than she’d meant to sound. It was only because her palms had gone clammy and slimed the leather wheel cover. She was nervous about this trip—uncomfortable to be venturing out into an unknown place to do an unfamiliar job with a man who didn’t like her—and she had a tendency to bristle when nervous.
It was one more bad habit she needed to make an effort to tame. Better to be professional. What Katie really needed to figure out was how to act cool and icy like some kind of Bond Girl assassin, slinking around and poisoning people by slipping strychnine in their drinks.
Except without the poisoning. Her goal was to become an agent for her brother’s security company, not an assassin. Not unless her ex-husband strolled into town needing assassinating.
Hi Ruthie, welcome to The Season Blog! I’m Madison Beverley’s right hand. Your book sounds intriguing, can’t wait to read it!
Hi, Madison! Thanks for the welcome. Hope you enjoy it!
YAY!!! I’m super intrigued. Now, who is Sean, the hero?
Yep! Though of course Katie doesn’t know that yet. She thinks she’s going to have meaningless sex with a celebrity. Silly Katie.
So who’s the ex-husband?
His name is Levi. He’ll be mostly backstory/wound — we learn all about him in the first book (Caleb’s book); this is the second one. 🙂
Hi Ruthie! About Last Night sounds like a must read. Whenever I think of the name Neville, I think of the actor, Neville Brand. Love that name. It is so unique.
Thank you! I didn’t know the actor, but I looked him up — thanks for the tip!
Middle of a good part, yup! I like the name, does that make me weird?
Only if it makes me weird, too. 🙂
Funny about the name issues but then again names are recycled.
Yes, and cyclical. Names are funny things!
This sounds like a fun book. I love a romance story that will make you laugh and sigh because the sex is do good.
lorimeehan1@aol.com
Thanks, Lori!
Not the average type of discussion that occurs where you dropped us into the excerpt. These two are definitely “characters.” Neville isn’t a name I would associate with a hero, but Nev works well.
Just read the excerpt from FLIRTING WITH DISASTER. It sounds like your books have a definite sense of humor, something I love in books. Too many authors forget to include enough of it.
Good luck with all your projects.
Thanks, Pat! Yes, lots of humor in my books. It’s my default mode. 🙂 But there’s some deep stuff in there, too.
To be fair, Neville Chamberlain’s “appeasement” policy did keep England out of WWII for a long time and considering that they lost about 25% of England’s eligible young men in WWI, the policy was a success in that respect (NOT having so many young men die, I mean).
I don’t think Neville is as that bad a hero’s name although it may be worse in England, just not so much here in the US. Nigel on the other hand…
I’m with you, Infinitieh — I’m very much pro-Chamberlain, and my heroine makes a little speech in his defense. His reputation still isn’t so hot, though.
See, now I’ll have to write a Nigel next. 🙂
Once we get to know a person, I think their name matters less and less. What might start off as humorous eventually can turn into endearment. This book sounds fantastic. Can’t wait to read it.
I agree, Joanne! Funny how that works. My grandma’s name was “Thelma,” and I think it’s the sweetest, softest, loveliest name in the world, because she was that kind of person. But I recognize that most people disagree. 🙂
Hope you enjoy it!
Well, I must say, if the entire book is as hot as this little clip, well….sure, I could overlook the hero’s name. Neville doesn’t exactly generate images of an alpha hero. I’d love to read the rest of this book.
It’s a pretty darn hot book, if I do say so myself. A sex-into-love story … so there’s lots of sex. 😉
Congrats on the new book – it sounds fun! LOL on the name….
This sunds like a great book. Lisa is a new author for me and would love to win and read. Thanks for the giveaway.
Super excited about this book and that Flirting With Disaster excerpt. You’ve got some flair with the writing Ruthie; I’m lovin’ it! Now why haven’t I heard about you before. In case you didn’t know I’m an addict for awesome writers… just ask Bev.
Now off to Amazon to get me a copy of About Last Night.
As long as I can pronounce it I’m OK with the name. When I think of Neville I think of Aaron Neville.